Certification

Quest Fine Jewelers highly recommends purchasing a diamond that is certified by a reputable laboratory. Although there are countless laboratories that grade diamonds, Quest recommends diamonds that are graded by the following three laboratories:

Essentially, a laboratory will give an unbiased and professional examination of the diamond. A certificate will disclose a diamond’s exact measurements, weight, color, clarity, cut, and overall quality. Similar to a set of blueprints, a certificate precisely indicates a diamond’s characteristics and can be a useful tool when identifying a stone. A grading report by GIA, AGS or EGL is a useful resource that protects consumers and allows for an educated diamond buying experience.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is the most respected gemology laboratory in the world. It has many locations, both domestically and internationally, and are regarded with the utmost respect for the care they take to examine and grade each diamond. In fact in order to ensure reliability and consistency with the grading, each stone is individually graded by up to 6 separate gemologists. These individual grades are than compiled to come up with a final consistent grade. The GIA final grade reports have a full description of the diamond; it’s plotting and its characteristics.

The Most Common report is the full GIA grading document, which will have the full description of the diamond as well as a plotting of any inclusions. Plotting refers to a diagram of the diamond that maps out all inclusions. The plotting diagram is useful because it shows where all the inclusions are located, but also can be helpful in identifying a stone since every stone will be slightly different in regards to location of inclusions. (this is not the case for flawless stones since they have no inclusions). These reports are generally for diamonds that are above 1.00 carat.

The GIA’s Diamond Dossier® is a report that is generally done for diamonds less than 1.00 carat. This report also contains full details of each diamond graded, however there is no diamond plotting information. Instead they have laser inscribed a registry number on the girdle of each diamond to allow verification of the stone without a mapping of inclusions.

The American Gem Society (AGS) grades top-notch, ideal cut, round diamonds. Only a very small percentage of jewelers, designers, appraisers, and suppliers nationwide have met the society’s standards for membership. The AGS’s high standards go beyond those of any other grading laboratory when considering color, clarity, and cut. If a diamond has been graded by the AGS lab, it has met the standards of what is considered to be the perfect proportions. (polish and symmetry) The grade of “Ideal: or a “000” rating has been given to these diamonds. AGS Ideal cut round diamonds are highly sought after in today’s market.

EGL USA is one of the premier independent gemological laboratories. For over 25 years it has offered the jewelry trade and consumers’ accurate and reliable gemstone identification and professional certification to validate their gemstone purchases.